THE family of a little boy dragged out to sea by a freak wave watched on in terror, screaming out for him to try to float on his back.

Five-year-old Chayce Kofe was a cheeky “little monkey” enjoying a school holiday walk with his brother, sister and a few of his cousins when a large shore break surged onto the beach, took his legs from under him and carried him out shortly before 2pm on Thursday.

There were four adults including his aunt, who he and his siblings were living with, and about eight children who caught sight of him behind the treacherous dumpers and urged him to try to float while they called emergency services.

Chayce Kofe, 5, died after being washed out to sea at Pearl Beach. Source: FACEBOOKSource:Facebook

But it may have made little difference. Central Coast Surf Life Saving duty officer Stuart Harvey said the huge shore break and steep drop-off from the sand into deep water would have made it difficult “for anyone to get in from there, let alone a small child”.

The recovery effort for Chayce’s body resumed at 8am this morning, with police divers and boats scouring the seas.

Yesterday a large-scale sea and air search was undertaken involving police divers, life savers on jet-skis, inflatable rescue boats, Marine Rescue NSW and the Westpac Rescue and PolAir helicopters circling throughout the day.

However Police Marine Area Command’s Superintendent Mark Hutchings soon confirmed the inevitable —, that the search had become a recovery operation.

Emergency surf life saving and police diving personnel resume the search for Chayce Kofe who was swept into the ocean at Pearl Beach, Central Coast. Picture:Peter ClarkSource:News Corp Australia

Chayce's stepsister said he had been living with his aunt at Umina Beach since October and they had gone for a walk to nearby Pearl Beach “to get the kids out of the house because it was school holidays”.

“This is something we do all the time,” she said. “He was a little monkey ... he loved his scooter.”

Family and friends congregated on the beach yesterday, a few collapsing on the sand inconsolable.

One of his cousins, whose mother was the aunt he was living with, said Chayce's mum Spring Kofe was still clinging to hope.

“Spring is acting how any parent would feel,” she said. “She's feeling helpless, just waiting, hoping.”

But as the hours ticked by, recovery seemed less and less likely.

“We're just clutching at straws now,” one rescuer said. “It's very hard to see anything in that water.”

Chayce's mum and his father Daniel Kelly travelled separately from Macquarie Fields to the Central Coast as the search entered its second day, having been suspended about 6.15pm on Thursday because of failing light.

In a Facebook post, another of his aunts said she was “devastated" and praying her “little Chayce” would come home.

The tragedy has been a double blow for the extended family and comes just two months after Chayce's uncle, Shane Kelly, was badly injured in a car crash with his friend Jesse Kelly, the man who sparked the Macquarie Fields riots.

Locals said while the southern end of the secluded Pearl Beach was very protected and “child friendly” the northern end was notoriously dangerous, with wave faces up to 2m on Thursday dumping heavily onto sand just a few metres from the high-water mark.

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